I saw a widow recently. She’d booked in to talk about inheritance tax, which is usually where these conversations start and almost never where they end. Before we got anywhere near gifting or trusts or any of the clever stuff, we did the dull, necessary thing and read her will. It had been drafted only […]
Give With a Warm Hand Read More »
Legitimately avoiding inheritance tax (IHT) is not getting easier. It is an easy tax to collect and growing house prices and portfolio valuations have made the tax bigger. The move from 2027 to include pensions in the taxable estate will further swell the tax collected and their might be more tightening of the rules to come.
Will Protection Help Me With My IHT Problem – Pre-Funded Trusts? Read More »
One big issue if you have an existing trust is the 10th anniversary tax charge. The value of the trust will be assessed and the excess over the nil rate band will be taxed at 6%. So, assuming the nil rate band was £325,000, a trust worth £400,000 will pay £4,500 IHT at each tenth
Can Business Relief Help Me as a Trustee? Read More »
In the village where I live, we are wedged between two huge estates, the Duke of Wellington owns most of the land to the North and Earl Calthorpe a lot to the South. Outside of the village there are two small estates owned by two wealthy non-domiciles and a private airport where tax exiles can
Inheritance Tax Loophole For The Aristocracy Read More »
Most people understand that if you make a reasonable size gift, you need to survive seven years before it falls out of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. So why do the HMRC probate forms ask about gifts made in the seven years prior to death and the seven years prior to that also? A
What is the 14-Year Inheritance Tax Trap? Read More »
Business Relief funds are very popular with some advisers and clients. In fact, we use them with some clients where it is the right advice. The total market for specific Business Relief funds is £9 billion in the UK currently. If you invest in one of these funds you have the benefit of access to
Why Is Business Relief Not Right For Someone In Their 60’s? Read More »
In our role as advisers, we see a lot of previous advice that hasn’t worked. It is sometimes a little tricky to work out why the advice was given in the first place but sometimes it is obvious. We have a client who came to us from one of the biggest UK advice firms. They
Why Is A Discounted Gift Trust Not Right For Someone In Their 60s? Read More »
The first thing to say is that pension funds are due to be included in your estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6th April 2027 and so there is time to plan. Many retired clients have told us how unfair this change feels as they have been deliberately not drawing on their pension funds and
What Can I Do About My Pension Now It Pays Inheritance Tax? Read More »
From April 2026 the government is introducing a new limit of £1 million per person of Business Relief. Business Relief is valuable as it exempts business assets from inheritance tax (IHT). Anything over that amount still halves the rate of IHT from 40% to 20%. It is also fast acting as you only need to
The New Business Relief Rules: What Do I Need To Know? Read More »
Pre-nups are a financial agreement entered into by both people prior to getting married. In theory they protect the person bringing the most money into a relationship from losing that money in the event of a subsequent divorce. In our experience parents who have gifted money to children are much keener on the idea of
Is a Pre-Nuptial Agreement (Pre-Nup) Worth Having? Read More »
